As part of our Topic lesson, Birch have been learning about the Great Fire of Gateshead which happened on 6th October 1854. The fire started in a factory on the Quayside in Gateshead, just outside of St.Mary’s church. The group were met by Mr Simon Green, part of the churches educational staff and he was very kind and informative ensuring our Educational visit was fun, safe and informative. In those days it was very hard work for the fire attendants to put the fire out due to the fact they had to fill the hoses from the river water. A very large crowd gathered to watch in amazement at the glorious colours, not realising the devastation the fire was causing up along the river and spreading high on both sides of the river causing 53 people to lose their lives and 800 people lost their homes. The pupils then enjoyed their lunch in the church and learnt how to make a Thaumatrope toy and spinning top, some of the games which were played with in those days. During our walk across the the Castle keep we spotted a train on the High level Bridge which we had learnt about in our last topic lesson.
